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Great Gray Owl
The Great Gray Owl (or Strix Nebulosa) is well known for being the largest owl in North America. It is also known as the Lapland Owl, Great Gray Ghost, and Sooty Owl, along with many other nicknames. They are not endangered. History and Trivia: The Great Gray Owl was first described by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1772. The name nebulosa ''is from the Latin word for "misty or foggy". It is likely that it got it's name from being gray, quiet, and big. The Great Gray is also the bird of Manitoba, a southern Canadian province. '''Description:' The Great Gray Owl is easily one of the largest owls in the world. They have a big amount of volume with their dense plumage, large head, and long wings and tail. Its head makes its eyes look small, but they are really not. This fact is also true with its beak. They are mostly gray, but they do have numerous specks of white, dark gray, and occasionally black. The wingspan of a very large Great Gray Owl can reach 152 centimeters for a female, 140 centimeters for a male. The length of a large female can be up to 80 centimeters, occasionally reaching 84. The males, however, reach only to 69 centimeters. The weight of a very large female is around 51 ounces, and a very large male can reach 45 ounces. Its pellets are very large, around 8.5 centimeters long and 3.5 centimeters thick. Call: The Great Gray Owl has a very distinctive primary call: a soft, low-pitched "who-ooo-ooo-ooo!" These are repeated every 15-30 seconds. It is used as a territorial declaration and can be heard 0.5 miles away if conditions are spot on. These calling sessions start at dusk and peak just before midnight. The females and males will also give a single hoot when close to their nest. Females will give an expressive "ooh-uh!" when males come in with prey. When the Great Gray Owl feels threatened, it will snap its beak, spread its wings, and growl. Habits and Hunting: The Great Gray Owl flies with slow, soft wingbeats. The owl usually flies less than 20 feet up from the ground, except when flying to the nest. They are usually very aggressive around their nest. When overheated, it will pant and droop its wings to expose its apterid. The Great Gray Owl mostly hunts during the early morning and late afternoon, but can be seen flying in daylight and night. They can often be seen on fenceposts or poles along the road waiting for prey. It can also hunt through the forest by gliding a few feet above the ground, and when the ground is covered in snow, it using hearing alone to find the prey, and will dive into the snow to catch it. Even though the Great Gray is so large, small rodents make up most of its diet (around 85%). Birds are rarely considered prey, and toads, frogs, snakes, and insects are prey very infrequently. Breeding: The Great Gray Owls' courtship consists of feeding and preening between mates and begins around midwinter. The male finds a possible nesting sites and calls to the female. The female goes through several and picks out her favorite. They are primarily stick nests made by hawks, crows, or ravens, hollowed out places in very large snags, or on top of clumps of mistletoe. They can also take an artificial platform or nest if in a suitable habitat. Unlike many other owls, the nest is tidied up before it is put into use. 2-5 eggs will be laid, and incubation starts with the first egg laid. It lasts 28 or 29 days. Young leave the nest in 3-4 weeks. If a clutch of eggs is lost, the adults will readily lay a replacement set. They will defend their nests very aggressively. Mortality: Great Gray Owls live a very long time, sometimes up to 40 years old. Mortality in the wild habitat is usually from starvation. Enemies of the juveniles include Great Horned Owls, martens, and wolverines. Fatalities from humans include shootings, electrocutions, and road kills. Habitat: Great Gray Owls inhabit a range of forested areas. They live in stunted coniferous forest in the far northern part of Minnesota. They live from Alaska to southern Canada and the northern Rocky Mountains in North America, and live along southern Europe and Asia. They live in red fir and conifer forests. The nesting habitat is in copses or islands of aspens within pure stands of conifers. (Reference; The Owl Pages) Category:Enemies of the great grey owl